Tag Archives: Nigeria

U.S. Deploys Troops in Cameroon to Fight Boko Haram

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced that 300 U.S. troops have been deployed in Cameroon to fight against the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Obama wrote a letter to Congress stating that the soldiers would provide “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance” in the region and work with West African soldiers. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, stated that the troops will be armed for self defense purposes and will not engage in combat.

On Monday, an advance force of 90 troops were sent to Cameroon, a country that borders Nigeria. Officials said that the troops will also have unarmed Predator drones that will aid the multinational task force made up of soldiers from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria.

Until now, the U.S. has been giving Nigerian forces equipment and providing training for their soldiers as an effort to help defeat Boko Haram. The Islamic terrorist group has destroyed many villages in Niger, Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The violence by Boko Haram has left 17,000 people dead since 2009 when the attacks began, according to Amnesty International. UNICEF also reported that 1.4 million children have been displaced by Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighboring countries.

Boko Haram claims to be a part of the Islamic State, but it is unclear if the two groups have coordinated their attacks.

Nigerian Soldiers Free 71 Women From Boko Haram

A major action by the Nigerian military against the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram as resulted in the freedom of 71 girls and women who had been held captive by the terror group.

Some of the women had been in the control of the terrorists for a year.

Close to 30 people were saved in a raid on Tuesday, with the remainder freed during an assault on two jihadist camps in Borno on Wednesday.  The camps were about 22 miles southeast of the Borno state capital of Maiduguri.

Army spokesman Tukur Gusau said a number of terrorists were killed during the military raid.

The army has been focusing on raids that will free hostages in light of many of the hostages being forced into suicide terror attacks.  Suicide bomber attacks spurred by Boko Haram have killed 47 people in the last week.

The group has also increased their campaigns of terror, killing 830 in just two months.

However, Nigeria’s military spokesman said a new multi-national group fighting the terrorists is about to go into service.

“Any moment from now, the operations or the Task Force will be manifest. In other words, we may not tell you (when it will commence), you will just see it,” Nigeria’s military spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade told AFP, who declined to give further details for strategic reasons.

Boko Haram Suspected of Bombs That Killed 64 During Muslim Celebration

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram is believed to have continued to follow the call of ISIS leadership to conduct attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by killing 64 people in multiple bomb attacks.

Two female suicide bombers killed 12 people at two prayer grounds in Damaturu.  People were in the area preparing for the end of Ramadan at the site of the attack.

Nigerian Army Col. Sani Usman said one of the bombers was a 10-year-old girl.

“The first blast went off around 07:15 local time (06:15 GMT) while security volunteers who had come earlier than worshippers were waiting for the worshippers so they could assist in crowd control,” added eye witness Ahmad Adamu, a security volunteer.

A few hours earlier two other bombers killed 50 people who were buying groceries for the end of the holiday at a market in Gombe.

Officials confirmed at least other 75 people were wounded and were in two separate hospitals for treatment.

The group has killed over 300 people this month.

Chibok Pastor “Grateful” Daughter Stoned By Islamists Didn’t Deny Christ

A Nigerian pastor whose daughter was stoned to death by the Islamic group Boko Haram says that he is “grateful” to know that she stood up for Christ until the end.

“I was told that my daughter refused to change her religion. I was told that they dug a hole and buried her from the neck and stoned her to death,” Pastor Enoch Mark said.  “To die for the sake of Christ, that’s the happiest thing for me. I’m grateful that she didn’t change her religion. She trust[ed] in God.”

Pastor Mark was told of his daughter’s martyrdom by a 17-year-old girl named Miriam who escaped from her captors.

“I believe she died with dignity. Monica is now in heaven because she refused to convert,” Pastor Mark’s wife told the BBC.

The girl who told the pastor is one of the girls that informed western leaders that Boko Haram is forcing the kidnapped girls to carry out killings and bombings.  Miriam told the BBC that they were trained to kill on captured Christians.

“They were Christian men. They [Boko Haram militants] forced the Christians to lie down. Then the girls cut their throats.”

Boko Haram Storms Village; 150 Dead

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram launched a surprise attack Wednesday night on villages in the north-eastern part of Borno state that has left at least 150 people dead.

The deadliest attack was on the village of Kakawa where the Islamists killed 97 people including women and children.

“The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Maghrib prayer shortly after breaking their fast,” eyewitness Babami Alhaji Kolo said to AFP news agency.  “They… opened fire on the worshippers who were mostly men and young children.  They spared nobody. In fact, while some of the terrorists waited and set most of the corpses on fire, others proceeded to houses and shot indiscriminately at women who were preparing food.”

The attacks on Wednesday followed Tuesday assaults on two towns where 48 men were shot after finishing prayers.

The two villages attacked are on the outskirts of the town of Monguno which the military recently recaptured from the terrorists.

“They were praying in the mosque when Boko Haram attackers descended on the village. They waited till they finished the prayers. They gathered them in one place, separated men from women and opened fire on them,” a Monguno resident told the BBC. “Many died, some escaped. They then set the village on fire. I saw five victims with bullet wounds who managed to escape. They were brought to [Monguno] on wheelbarrows, before they were transferred to vehicles that took them to hospitals.”

Nigerian Businessman Connected to Boko Haram Chibok Kidnapping Arrested

Nigerian military officials have announced the arrest of a businessman who actively participated in the kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

Military spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said that Babuji Ya’ari was the leader of a “terrorist intelligence cell” for Boko Haram.  Olukolade had been pretending to be a member of the Youth Vigilante Group so he could provide information to the terrorists and mislead officials.

“The arrest of the businessman … has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women,” Olukolade said in a statement Tuesday night.

In addition to the kidnapping, Ya’ari has been a coordinator of attacks in the city of Maiduguri and helped plan and carry out the 2014 assassination of the emir of Gwoza.

Also arrested was a woman named Hafsat Bako who managed payroll for the terrorist operatives.  The Nigerian defense ministry said she was paid about fifty American dollars for each job.

Boko Haram Kills Dozens In Niger Attack

Islamic extremist group Boko Haram attacked Niger’s Diffa region in an overnight attack leaving scores dead according to security sources.

At least 30 civilians are reportedly dead.  Officials added that several villages were completely burned to the ground by the terrorists.

The attack is the second time in a week that Boko Haram has crossed the Nigerian border to kill civilians.  The group launched suicide bombings in Chad Monday that killed 34.

Chad reported to those attacks with air strikes on areas that are controlled by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

The new Nigerian president has promised to increase the multinational force fighting the terrorists to 7,500 and that “efforts to strengthen security cooperation with our neighbours and adjust our own response to Boko Haram will yield results very soon”.

Boko Haram Violently Kills Dozens of Christians

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has violently killed dozens of Christians to death in their latest raids on villages.

Boko Haram killed 29 people in Adamawa state and most of the dead are Christians.  The killings come a week after the terrorists hacked to death 10 Christians in Pambula-Kwamda.

They destroyed the telephone mast first before invading our community — this was to prevent us from telephoning and requesting help,” said one community pastor.  “They killed 10 members of our church [Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, or EYN] using machetes and then slaughtering them.”

Military officials also say that Boko Haram is the likely source of suicide bomb attacks in a Christian community on May 19th that left nine people dead. They are also believed behind a shooting attack in Wagga.

“The attacks killed 19 people in Garkida and Madagali,” said the Rev. Samuel Dante Dali, president of the EYN. “The bombing signals a renewal of violence by the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram at a time when Nigerian authorities are claiming victory in many parts of the northeast.”

The town of Gubio was attacked and burned Wednesday night leaving 37 men, women and children dead.  Over 400 buildings were destroyed in the terrorist attack.

Abortion Activist Group Rushes To Women Impregnated By Boko Haram

Pro-life groups are raising the alarm about an abortion group that has entered Nigeria with a focus on the women who have been impregnated during their captivity by Boko Haram.

Last month we reported on the rescue of nearly 700 women from the clutches of the Islamic terrorist group.  Nigerian officials said that many of the women were impregnated by the terrorists as part of their campaign.

“Boko Haram insurgents deliberately raped women with the intention of getting them pregnant so they would give birth to future insurgents as successors of their violent struggles, hence the need for a special program to break the chain anticipated by the insurgents,” Isa Gusau, spokesperson for Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, also explained.

“The sect leaders make very conscious efforts to impregnate the women; some of them, I am told, even pray before mating, offering supplications for [Allah] to make the products of what they are about doing become children that will inherit their ideology.”

Now, the United Nations Population Fund, one of the biggest worldwide groups promoting abortion in underdeveloped nations, is providing counseling to the women who have been attacked.  While the group hasn’t explicitly said they were there to provide abortions, pro-abortion groups like the Center for Health and Gender Equality promoted the presence of UNFPA saying they provide access to abortion.

“UNFPA is one of the leading international groups promoting abortion in the developing world,” explained the UK-based Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) in a statement this week. “SPUC fears that these emotionally vulnerable, malnourished women will be pressured into aborting their babies.”

“It is extremely worrying that some of these women may undergo abortions, which could cause them further physical and emotional trauma in their already weakened state,” Antonia Tully of SPUC added. “The deaths of their unborn babies would add to the toll of lives lost in this tragic situation.”

Nigeria sees about 760,000 abortion every year.  Many Nigerian based pro-life groups are speaking out demanding the UNFPA be blocked from aborting the children of the Boko Haram victims.

Boko Haram Repelled After Surprise Attack

Nigerian military officials imposed a curfew in Maiduguri after Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram launched a surprise attack.

Witnesses say the streets are empty in the town with all schools, markets and hospitals shut down.  The army claims the action is in place to protect the city.

The terrorists were fought off by a coalition of military troops and local residents.  The terrorists reportedly focused on taking over a heavily fortified army base.

Maiduguri is the largest city in north-eastern Nigeria with around two million citizens.  The town had been a base for Boko Haram until recent military victories drove the terrorist group out of villages and into the woods.

Military officials called it the strongest attempt by the terrorists to recapture the town since March declaration by the government that all major towns have been cleared of the terrorist group.

A leader of the civilian troops told AFP news agency that the terrorists suffered “serious casualties” before they withdrew.

The Army says that Boko Haram has now planted land mines around the border of the game reserve where they are hiding after being driven out of the cities.